LibGuides: UGS 303: Jerusalem / Kaplan: How do I read a journal article?

Why are these articles so difficult to read?

How does a researcher do research? How do they communicate their findings?

It all depends on the discipline (subject area) in which they are working.

It's always hard to read research findings written by experts for experts.

By the time you are an expert in your major, you will be:

Familiar with conversations that experts in your topic area are having.
Able to recognize and evaluate research methodologies commonly used in your field.
Able to evaluate the use of and relevance of evidence presented in an article to analyze as evidence in your own research.
Familiar with the jargon and the common accepted knowledge in a field.

How to Read Scholarly Articles

Scholarly Articles can be long and dense, but most scholarly articles have a structure. Once you understand the structure of the texts, they become easier to read and understand.

Components	Key Points
Abstract	Short summary of the article includes: the research question being addressed why it is worthwhile to conduct this study how the study was conducted the main findings of the study
Introduction	Discusses main research contributions and knowledge on the topic Positions the author's approach to the topic and identifies their unique contributions ("they say this, I say this")
Methods/ Methodology	Identifies approach / instrument used to conduct a study Identifies how the author gathered the data analyzed in the study May discuss limitations of the study
Discussion	Analyzes the data collected or the results of the experiment Includes tables, charts, etc. for data visualization
Conclusion	Restates the problem addressed in the paper Summarizes key takeaways from the research Discusses the significance and implications of the research Based upon these findings, suggests new approaches for studying the problem
References	List of research cited in paper

Not all research papers are organized in such a manner, but all research papers provide these components whether they are labeled thus or not.

Breaking down a scholarly article

At about the 7 min mark, the video talks about a strategy for skimming.